A special exhibition showcasing changing architectural styles in Taiwan to reflect political, social and economic developments in the country from 1949 to 1983 opened on Saturday at Taipei Fine Arts Museum.
Titled “Modern Life, Taiwan Architecture 1949-1983,” the exhibition is intended to gauge what happened in Taiwan from just after the end of World War II to the opening of the museum, the museum said in a statement on Friday.
A model of the Chiang A-hsing Mansion built in Hsinchu County in 1949 is displayed in the first part of the exhibition to show the diverse cultures in Taiwan at the end of Japanese colonial rule.
Photo courtesy of the museum via CNA
The historic building features Western, Japanese and Taiwanese elements, said Wu Kwang-tyng (吳光庭), one of the three academics who curated the exhibition.
National Cheng Kung University’s Future Venue in Tainan (1959) and National Taiwan University’s Agricultural Exhibition Hall in Taipei (1963) were picked to highlight the introduction of US building skills and techniques when Taiwan received aid from the US from 1951 to 1965, the statement said.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government’s efforts to introduce Chinese architectural elements in local buildings, such as the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute’s Taipei Branch (1959) in Nanhai Academy, are also featured, along with local architects’ attempts to create modern Chinese-style buildings, the museum said.
The works by local architects include the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (1972) designed by Wang Da-hong (王大閎), and the library of Taipei Municipal Jinmei Girls’ High School (1968) by Xiu Ze-lan (修澤蘭), Taiwan’s first female architect.
The landmark commercial complex Wan Nian Building (1973) in Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) shopping district is featured to showcase the urbanization and rise of consumerism in Taiwan, the museum said.
Works by foreign architects in Taiwan featured in the exhibition include the chapel building of St Joseph Technical Senior High School in Taitung County (1960) by Swiss architect Justus Dahinden.
The exhibition featuring building models, blueprints, documents and videos runs until June 30.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS